Umoja Remembers Walter Robinson
Umoja Remembers Walter Robinson
Sacramento, California – June 11, 2019 – The Umoja Community Education Foundation Board of Directors and staff are deeply saddened to announce the transition of Walter Robinson, Vice President of the Umoja Board of Directors. He joined the board in January 2018 and was immediately elected to serve as Vice President.
He demonstrated a remarkable passion for Umoja by initiating and ensuring a statewide partnership with the University of California (UC) system. His work and life focus centered around creating educational equity.
Walter served Umoja tirelessly, offering innovative leadership and illuminating the power of relationship-building. With nearly 40 years of higher education expertise, his leadership was beneficial to the further advancement of Umoja.
We feel fortunate to have experienced the gift that Walter was to education and the world. Umoja is immeasurably better because of Walter.
"As Vice President of the Umoja Community Education Foundation, Walter Robinson provided substantial leadership and guidance to our organization and his intentional and deliberate desire to ensure the success of our students will continue to be a pillar that we will keep strong in his honor,” said Umoja Board president Dr. Teresa Aldredge. “He will be greatly missed but will always have a presence at the Umoja altar.”
“Walter’s passing is a tremendous loss for our board and for the broader network of African American educators who work tirelessly to affect change for Black and African American students in California and beyond,” said Umoja board secretary Dr. Judy Mays. “He is the reason that Umoja has a relationship with the UC system and was very influential in getting the indicator on the UC application that allows our students to identify that they are Umoja students. Walter was an all-around good guy, a loving father, grandfather, and husband. As a member of the Umoja Board, I will miss his good energy, his thoughtful insight and most of all his humor.”
“Walter was a highly effective and dynamic administrator, and was deeply committed to student engagement, leadership, development, and success,” said Umoja executive director Nzingha Dugas. “He mentored dozens of students who remember him as being deeply supportive and caring going above and beyond to support their success.”
We want to express our heartfelt condolences to Walter’s family, friends, and colleagues.
About Umoja
Umoja, (a Kiswahili word meaning unity) is a community and critical resource dedicated to enhancing the cultural and educational experiences of African American and other students. Umoja actively serves and promotes student success for all students through a curriculum and pedagogy responsive to the legacy of the African and African American Diasporas.
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Publish Date: Tuesday, June 11, 2019
